Huaorani Kayak Expedition

This expedition is about experiencing one of the most important and biodiverse ecosystems on earth. The Amazon Basin, besides being the world’s most important oxygen producer, is the biggest fluvial system in the world. All the rivers that are born on the volcanoes on the eastern slopes of the Andes travel about 5000 miles to the Atlantic Ocean through the Amazon river and its tributaries.

Our destination is the Yasuni National Park, home of the Huaorani people and the biggest National Park in Ecuador. The Huaorani have inhabited the headwaters of the Amazon for millennia. They have lived as hunters and gatherers, entirely without contact from outsiders until the end of the 1950s. In fact, at least one Huaorani clan, the Tagaeri, continues to shun all contact with the outside world. Numbering approximately 1,200 individuals, the Huaorani continue to maintain a largely traditional lifestyle, living in the rainforest, although missionaries and oil companies have had some influence.